This invention relates to floor safes and especially to a floor safe having a molded polymer housing with detachable metal door frame and door.
There have been numerous prior art floor safes for imbedding into concrete. Such safes are generally manufactured with a metal safe body which can be cylindrical or square with a door attached thereto for positioning into a hole cut in the floor of a building and to which concrete has been poured therearound to prevent the removal of the safe from the floor. To assure that the safe cannot be removed from the concrete, it has been customary to have extensions, such as steel bars or reinforcing rebar, extend from the floor safe with concrete poured therearound. Such prior art safes are expensive to manufacture and expensive and bulky to ship and store and will corrode with moisture from the concrete. These safes typically are a box having a safe door and are opened to place jewelry or other valuables on the floor of the box for storage therein. Floor safes may include fire doors with various types of seals and the like for preventing the ingress of moisture and sometimes have means to prevent moisture from contacting the metal safes to prevent corrosion of the safe bodies.
In contrast to floor safes, wall safes are particularly subject to the hazards of fire but are not generally subject to water damage. Floor safes are not as susceptible to damage from fire since the floor foundation does not typically reach the hot temperature found in the remainder of a burning building. Floor safes, on the other hand, are subject to water intrusion into the safe and around the safe where it can cause corrosion to the safe body or damage to the contents of the safe. Thus, it is desirable in a floor safe to make the housing watertight and some safes provide seals for the door of the floor safe to make it watertight.
The present invention forms a safe body of a one piece molded polymer or plastic material which is locked in place by the poured concrete around the exterior of the safe body. Exterior grooves are filled with concrete to prevent the removal of the safe body which grooves are also used in the formation of storage compartments for holding storage containers. The molded body also advantageously has molded corrugations for partitioning the interior and has means for anchoring a door frame thereto.
Prior U.S. patents can be seen in my prior patent for a Safe Apparatus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,870, which is a security safe apparatus and specifically a floor safe having a safe door cover which is opened and closed on a door hinge which includes a hinge pin nested in a grooved pin support so that the door can be removed by unlocking the door and hinging it open and lifting the door from the container. The present floor safe contemplates the use of a similar type floor safe door. In the U.S. patents to Lichter, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,408,545 and 4,176,440, a floor safe is provided which uses a plastic body having a plurality of slots precision saw cut into the sides thereof for sliding steel bars to protrude therefrom to lock the safe body in place once the concrete is poured around the plastic liner and around the steel bars. These safes also provide for special concrete door covers over a safe door and use the steel bars in the slots to help support the safe door and in the operation of the lock. A third Lichter patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,297, uses a safe construction using rebar coupled to a frame and having a body coupled thereto for anchoring the frame and body into a floor and has a special door attaching frame and door. In the Litter U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,827, a storage vault is provided for valuables and includes a floor storage container having conventional flanges for anchoring the body into concrete. Special seals are provided for sealing the entrance against the intrusion of moisture. This container also has a plurality of ribs attached along the edge for inserting divider walls for breaking the safe into compartments. The Novakosky patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,651, is a method and apparatus for protecting a floor safe from water damage and shows a conventional floor safe along with a method for protecting the floor safe from water damage.
In contrast to the prior patents, the present apparatus and method utilizes one molded polymer body or housing having corrugations for breaking up a portion of the inside of the body with partition walls but also has a plurality of molded side compartments for the placement of storage containers. These compartments along with a protruding locking groove allow the concrete poured on the exterior of the molded body to seep around and into exterior grooves and surfaces formed by the molded body to lock the body in place without the use of steel bars and flanges. The safe also provides a convenient and easily attachable door for attaching to the safe body once the body is attached into a concrete floor.